Seminar on Sports- Dr Veena Mani - 3 September, 2021

 

Report Talk Series 3- Sports as Work: Thinking About Sports Beyond the Olympic Medals Department of English Sacred Heart College, Thevara 

 Introduction Rethinking culture and the various theoretical and intellectual assumptions in Cultural Studies, from the very perspective of the Global South, has been a recent paradigm shift that has been reverberating new intellectual waves in the field of literary and cultural studies. Lending ears to the unheard and ignored stories and rewriting literary and cultural history, dismantling the standardised and fixed, yet biased tales, that’s what this developing interdisciplinary arena aims of. With the sole aim of enlightening the intellectual community out their and equipping the student community to thrive in an intellectually agile world, the English Department of Sacred Heart College, Thevara has initiated a lecture series entitled ‘Thinking Global South’. With this venture, the head of the English Department Dr. Rajesh James, enhanced awareness on the different avenues, and the relevance and scope of delving into newer perspectives and opinions, especially those budding scholars hoping to pursue their careers in higher studies and research. The lecture series definitely provided the postgraduate students an opportunity to think beyond their set syllabus and inculcate interest for their subject. The third lecture in the series was conducted on 3rd September, 2021 at 7:00 pm using the medium of Google meet on the topic ‘Sports as Work: Thinking About Sports Beyond the Olympic Medals’ by Dr Veena Mani, Assistant Professor, Stella Maris College, Chennai. Around 25-30 participants commencing of MA students, PHD scholars and faculties took part in the session. Discussion Dr Veena Mani, through her engaging lecture, deconstructed the wide chasm between sports and literature, often assumed to be poles apart, and bridged it with nuances of understanding a society and community. Talking about something so blunt and raw like sports in literary lecture series, was something the audience were hugely intrigued about. Yet coinciding with the ongoing Olympics and Paralympics, Dr Veena’s talk delved into the politics of modern organised sports elaborated on how sports, usually misunderstood as a means of escape, is rather an analytical field to study the society, the culture and people. She elaborated on how its indeed important to think beyond the medals, see sports as a means of work. Introducing the audience to refugee Olympics, and various new IOC rules, Dr Veena elaborated on how the usual trend with organised and standardised sports on thrusting the nation or the community rather than the individuals is gradually taking newer shapes. Talking more on her research about the Sevens football, a popular form of football played majorly in several parts of Kerala, she spoke on how the game transcends beyond the rectangular pitch to a cultural space coloured by the aspects of class, gender, politics and religion. Further, the discussion moved on to the sphere of seeing sports as a means of work and the precarious and hypocritical notions infused into the psyche of the society regarding the same. The session dismantled the various misconceived aspects on bridging literature and sports and was an eye-opener towards the depth and breadth of the field of literature and culture and the intricate connection with life. Representing the participants, Albeena Stephen of 2nd MA English responded to the talk by elaborating how the concepts of the talk can be extended to the various indigenous sports like Kalarippayattu, Kho-Kho, kite fighting, kabaddi, vallamkali and so on, not really internationally well known yet speaks volumes on the nations culture. Further, how the talk addressed the aspect of inclusivity and breaking gender binaries withing the space that sports is. Participants enhanced the session by putting forth questions that further unveiled the deep connection between sports, culture and literature. Faculty members responded to the talk by urging on the importance of moving beyond the set syllabus, breaking the boundaries and bridging the gap between academics and the practicality of life by delving into such challenging yet interesting areas such as sports studies. The session came to a close as on behalf of the audience Christo Jackson of 2nd MA English, expressed gratitude towards the resource person, Dr Veena Mani, for an engaging and insightful session. He further expressed his gratitude towards the Principal, the Department of English, the Head of Department and the other faculty members for providing such a platform to grow and nurture even during these uncertain times. Conclusion The lecture was indeed insightful as it prompted the students to think beyond the set limitations of their syllabus and restructure their notions regarding their subject in a manner, that is more connected to the society and culture. Like how the resource person emphasised on leisure spaces are a continuation of society, its high time that being the seekers of literature, the academic community address those often-ignored spaces and notions, just because it lacks the tagline of being mainstream. The session kindled in the audience a fire to venture into their subject in way that their discoveries would be a staple source in building the community of ordinary lives out there. Recommendations Students expressed their gratitude and interest in knowing more about the less explored and least ventured areas thereby extending the boundaries of their subject areas. Suggestions poured in on more lectures on such innovative and engaging areas such as Climate studies, Medical humanities, Pandemic Studies, Film Studies and so on.